Circular knit hosiery and method of closing the toe opening



May 28, 1963 5. J. WITTMAN 3,090,963

CIRCULAR mm HOSIERY AND METHOD OF CLOSING THE TOE OPENING Filed July 26, 1957 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR. \l sTEvEM J. W\TTMAN 2a ATTOQ NEY May 28, 1963 5. J. WITTMAN 3,090,963

CIRCULAR KNIT HOSIERY AND METHOD OF CLOSING THE TOE OPENING Filed July 26, 1957 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 IN VE R. STEVEN d. W\T AN ATTORM EY United States Patent 3,090,963 CIRCULAR KNKT HOSERY AND METHOD OF CLOSING TIE TDE OPENING Steven J. Witt man, Miilington, Ni, assignor to West Grange Hosiery Mill, Inc, Hackettstown, N.J., a corporatlon or New Jersey Filed July 26, 1957, Ser. No. 674,335 21 Claims. (Cl. 2-239) The invention relates to circular knit hosiery, and is more particularly directed to a novel method for closing the toe of such hosiery, and the resultant product.

In the manufacture of circular knit hosiery, or seamless hosiery" as it is sometimes termed to distinguish the product from full fashioned hosiery, it has been the practice to close the transverse toe opening between the shaped toe pocket and the instep portion on *a dial looper. In such operation, called looping, the operator must manually place each loop near the edges of the toe pocket and instep portions individually over the needles on a moving dial, the machine then trimming the edges and passing a sewing thread between the needles to scam the opening. The operation is tedious, fatiguing, time consuming and costly, and with-hosiery made as sheer as 66 gauge and finer, the likelihood of missing a loop is greatly increased, whereupon the end product is also defective.

Numerous proposals have been made to overcome the tedium, fatigue and expense attending the closing of the toe opening on the dial looper. In one proposal, a flexible transfer band is used, the band having a number of pins, one for each loop of the knitted fabric at the toe opening. The loops are transferred to the pins on the transfer band while the loops are still on the needles of the knitting machine, following which, the band is then used to transfer the loops over the needles of the dial looper. While the operator is not required to manually place the fabric loops over the needles of the dial looper, such transfer method involves an added operation, added equipment and, of course, the dial looper is still a necessity.

The dissatisfaction with the looping operation has even prompted radical departures from the conventional method and machine for producing circular knit stockings. It has been proposed to knit the stockings from the toe upward, and in a manner which results in the stocking having a seam which extends longitudinally along the foot portion, instead of transversely under the toes and between the toe pocket and the instep portion. This departure from conventional knitting of stockings of the type under consideration, with the attendant disadvantages of machine modification, has resulted in a product which is not of the type which the purchasing public has come to accept as so-called seamless hosiery.

It is recognized that the transverse seam closing the toe opening of the conventional circular knit stocking must, because of its location, be flat, thin and extensible. By knitting the stocking so that the seam opening extends centrally and lengthwise along the bottom of the foot portion, the seam need not be as flat and thin, and extensibility is not required. Also, trimming walewise is not likely to cause runs. It has been proposed to make a circular knit stocking in which the seam extends longitudinally of the foot portion without, however, so radically changing the mode of knitting as to involve knitting from the toe upwards. Such departure from the conventional product, however, is at best a substitute for manufacturing convenience, and has not found ready commercial acceptance.

It has also been suggested to manufacture a form of a circular knitted stocking y PFOViding a 34inch?r or tube of uniform diameter throughout the length of the tube, and shaping the foot portion out of the tube by flattening one end of the tube, folding, cutting and seaming. In this construction, a seam of substantial length extends lengthwise of the foot, and another seam, which extends transversely, is necessary in order to obtain some semblance of the foot contour. Though this method of manufacture eliminates the looping operation, the appearance and quality of the resulting product does not approximate the conventional stocking; the leg portion is not shaped, and the heel and toe areas are not truly shaped to the conventional desired contours.

It has also been suggested to knit a heavy and elastic cord into the fabric near the edges of the instep and toe pocket portions, and to align the wales and courses adjacent such cord, so that the edges may be sewn on a conventional sewing machine. This proposal, while eliminating the need for individually placing the fabric loops over the needles of a dial looper, requires modification of the knitting machine to insert the special heavy and elastic cord. Also, the loops must be aligned coursewise before sewing. Moreover, a special carrier is required to present the edges of the fabric to the sewing machine while the fabric is contracted to align the loops in a course-wise direction.

From the foregoing, it will be apparent that a great deal of attention and effort has been directed toward overcoming the problems engendered by the looping operation. Even Where the looping operation has been eliminated, substantial modification of the products appearance or quality has been required, or the circular knitting machine has been modified, or additional or auxiliary equipment has been needed.

The primary objects of the invention are to close the transverse toe opening of a conventional shaped circular knit stocking in a manner which eliminates the looping operation. Modification of the knitting machine is unnecessary, and the use of special auxiliary equipment is not needed. The finished product made in accordance with the invention has the same appearance as a stocking having the seam thereof closed on a dial looper, and the quality of the stocking is essentially the same. The cost of manufacture is minimal.

These, and other objects and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the following detailed description, taken in conjunction with the drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a side elevational view of the foot portion of a stocking with the toe opening closed in accordance with the invention;

FIG. 2 is a bottom View of the foot portion shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a side elevational view of the toe and instep portions of the stocking showing the toe opening therebetween prior to the formation of the transverse seam to close the opening;

FIG. 4 is a schematic view showing the manner in which the edges of the toe pocket and instep portions are fed through a sewing machine where the edges are trimmed, and the opening closed by sewing the trimmed edges in accordance with a preferred form of the invention;

FIG. 5 is a section taken approximately in the plane of line 55 of FIG. 4, this view being greatly enlarged;

FIGS. 6 and 7 are views similar to FIGS. 3 and 2, respectively, showing another form of the invention; and

FIGS. 8 and 9 are views similar to FIGS. 3 and 2, respectively, showing the invention in still another embodiment thereof.

Referring to FIGS. 1 to 5, illustrating a preferred em bodiment of the invention, a circular knit stocking of the conventional type, having a leg or boot portion (not shown), a toe pocket .10 and a heel portion 12 knitted to shape on the knitting machine, has the transverse toe opening 14 thereof closed by simply sewing the edge of the toe pocket to the edge of the instep portion 16 in a conventional sewing machine providing an over-edge line of stitching, generally designated S.

The stocking may be knitted of nylon of desired denier and gauge on any suitable circular knitter which will furnish a contoured stocking, for example, a Scott & William KN knitting machine. As is common in the art, the leg portion and the foot portion 17 intermediate the toe pocket and the heel portion are comparatively sheer, for example denier, with the toe pocket and heel reinforced with filaments of heavier weight. As when knitting a stocking for subsequent toe closing on a dial looper, the usual section 18 of non-raveling cotton courses may be knitted in adjacent the edge of the reinforced toe pocket and the reinforced section 19 of the instep portion. Also, the usual looping line 20 may be provided, although for the purposes of this embodiment of the invention, such looping line is unnecessary. The looping line may be used as a guide line in sewing, if desired, and may be kept in the stocking simply to avoid any modification of the knitting machine. Actually, the line 22, where the non-raveling section meets the reinforced toe pocket and the reinforced section 19 of the instep portion furnishes a suitable guide line for sewing. As shown in FIG. 4, immediately before stitching, and while the toe pocket and instep portions are under the control of the presser foot P and the feed dog F of the sewing machine, the edges thereof are trimmed by a reciprocating blade B cooperating with a stationary knife (not shown). The trimming removes the non-raveling section 18 just inward thereof. The stocking is turned inside out during trimming and sewing.

A machine which has been found to be particularly suitable to accomplish the trimming and sewing is a machine of the Class 246 type, as manufactured by The Singer Manufacturing Company. A trimming and sewing machine of this kind is generally shown in Knaus Patent Number 2,238,796, granted April 15, 1941, and is ordinarily used for serging trousers, and simultaneously trimming and stitching pockets, dress shields, etc. A chain over-edge stitch formed of two or more sewing threads is used, such stitch preferably being of three threads. The feed dog and presser foot are formed to allow the blade to cut the fabric as the fabric is fed be tween the feed dog and presser foot, and just prior to stitching by the sewing needles.

In the preferred form of the invention, a chain overedge, three-thread stitch having the designation, Federal Stitch Type Number 504, is used. As shownin FIG. 4, a loop of one thread, the needle thread 24, is passed through the toe pocket and instep portion layers adjacent the trimmed edges, where the loop is entered by a loop of a second thread, the upper looper thread 26. The loop of the thread 26 is extended to the trimmed edges, where it is entered by a loop of the third thread, the lower looper thread 28. The loop of the thread 28 is carried forward over the surface of the plied edges, originally entered by the loop of the thread 24, to a point where the loop of the thread 28 Will be entered by the next succeeding loop of the thread 24 before this latter loop passes through the layers of material. The material is fed in the direction of the arrow X, as shown in FIG. 4, and the sequence of stitches is formed in the direction of the arrow Y.

In over-edge sewing the edges of the toe pocket and instep portion to each other, a roll 29, as shown in FIG.

5, is imparted to the material as the edges are sewn together. This is accomplished by placing one of the looper threads, preferably the lower, under greater tension than the other looper thread. By rolling the edges during sewing, the line of stitching S is located in an area strengthened by the fabric itself to afford substantial resistance to separation of the connected edges, despite the sheer character of the knitted fabric, and though the width of the material caught up or encompassed by the stitching may be as little as three (3) courses inward of each of the trimmed edges. A width as much as seven (7) courses may be taken up by the stitching without causing the seam to be unduly bulky, or reducing extensibility to an appreciable extent. By using an appropriate number of stitches per inch, the seam may be maintained thin, flat and extensible in the direction of the seams length, While providing a seam of unusually high resistance to separation.

No attempt is made to pass the sewing threads between each of the loops of the knitted fabric. The mesh is too fine for gauging. In fact, it is preferred to keep the number of stitches per inch to a minimum, consistent with the requirements of scam strength, thinness of a seam and seam extensibility. For example, for nylon stockings made on a 474 needle circular knitter, equivalent to approximately 60 gauge, 16 sewn stitches to the inch, using nylon threads of number 4 or number 8 size, has furnished excellent results. with number 4 sewing thread is 12 to 24 stitches per inch for stockings of such knitting fineness. The number of sewn stitches is preferably less than the number of knitted loops with sewing thread of such size. Preferably, the number-of sewn stitches per inch is approximately 30 to 60% of the number of needles per inch used to knit the stockings, with a 40% ratio furnishing the best results.

The edges of the knitted material are fed into the trimming and sewing machine with practically no tension applied to the knitted fabric. In trimming in a direction across the Wales, there will be a tendency to cause the material to run or ravel in the area to be sewn if tension is applied beyond the amount necessary to maintain a uniform or straight line of stitching. The machine operator simply feeds the aligned edges of fabric into the machine with the material in relaxed but fiat condition, Without the aid of auxiliary equipment of any kind to hold the edges as they are being trimmed and sewn.

The non-raveling section at the toe opening, as hereinbefore described, has no utility in the finished product, and is only used to prevent runs in handling of the stocking prior to seaming. In accordance with another form of the invention, and as shown in FIGS. 6 and 7, the nonraveling section of cotton course may be eliminated. The toe pocket, designated It), is knitted with crimped nylon fiber, and the knitting in of such material is extended around the edge 19' of the instep portion so that only the crimped fiber reinforcement surrounds the transverse toe opening 14'. Crirnped nylon fiber, which may be purchased as a proprietary product having the trademark Banlon, may be made, for exarnple,, on apparatus as disclosed in Hay Patent Number 2,734,229, granted February 14, 1956. Such crimped fiber is similar in character to cotton in the respect that it will not tend to run or ravel. Crimped 40 denier nylon may be run into the toe pocket, adjacent the instep edge, and in the heel, thereby eliminating the cone on the knitting machine for the section of non-raveling cotton courses. Since the section of cotton courses is eliminated, and there is no line of demarcation with a reinforced toe pocket, a looping line 20 is knitted in to afford a line for guiding when feeding the material through the trimming and over-edge sewing machine as above described. A toe pocket and heel reinforced with crimped nylon alfords a pleasing appearance.

In another form of the invention, and as shown in FIGS. 8 and 9, the usual heavy filament such as 40 denier nylon, which is run in for reinforcing the toe pocket, designated 10", and the edge portion 19" of the instep, is followed by a section '30 of sheer knitted fabric prior to knitting in the non-raveling section 18" to surround A suitable range of stitch frequency the toe opening 14". The sheer section 30 may be knitted of 15 denier filament, or the same weight as the sheer main body, or the leg portion, and portion intermediate the toe pocket and heel, of the stocking. It has been found that a suitable strong seam S may be made by trimming and sewing such sheer material in a machine, and in the manner as above described. The looping line may be omitted since the line of demarcation between the sheer material and the non-raveling section, or the line where the sheer material meets the reinforced toe pocket and the reinforcement along the instep portion furnish guide lines to aid in feeding the material through the sewing machine. The seam is unusually thin and flat and, because of its minimal mass, is very extensible lengthwise. As will be evident from FIG. 9, the seam which is located in the sheer material ha the reinforced areas of the toe pocket and the instep edge portion spaced laterally and on each side thereof, and aifords a pleasing appearance.

Pursuant to the ability to obtain a sufficiently strong, yet thin, fiat and desirably extensible over-edge sewn seam connecting the edges of such sheer material as 15 denier, 66 gauge nylon, as above described, the invention is applicable to closing the transverse toe opening of a so-called nude stocking. In such stockings, the coutoured toe pocket and contoured heel are of the same fine mesh as the leg portion. With the usual non-raveling section of cotton courses adjacent the opening, and the line of demarcation between such section and the sheer material serving as a guideline in sewing, the sewing machine does the rest, trimming oif the non-raveling section and over-edge sewing the sheer toe pocket to the sheer instep portion.

It is believed that the advantages of the invention as hereinbefore described will be apparent from the foregoing detailed description. The looping operation is eliminated entirely. The toe opening is closed by simly sewing in a conventional type of machine. The sewing machine operator needs very little training, and the only skill required is to feed the layers of material through the machine along a desired line of stitching, after the machine has been set to provide the desired number of stitches per inch, and With one of the plurality of sewing threads under greater tension than another of the threads.

It also will be apparent that while the invention has been described in several preferred forms, changes may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention, as sought to be defined in the following claims.

I claim:

1. A circular knitted stocking including a foot portion knitted to shape and providing a transverse opening on the under side of the foot portion between a contoured toe pocket and adjacent instep portion, said toe pocket and instep portion having edges trimmed across the wales thereof and rolled courses adjacent the trimmed edges, and a chain over-edge line of stitching securing said trimmed edges without regard to an individual sewing stitch for an individual knitted loop relationship, the line of stitching encompassing said rolled courses.

2. A circular knitted stocking including a foot portion knitted to shape and providing a transverse opening on the under side of the foot portion between a contoured toe pocket and adjacent instep portion, said toe pocket and instep portion having edges trimmed across the wales thereof and rolled courses adjacent the trimmed edges, and a chain over-edge line of stitching securing said trimmed edges without regard to an individual sewn stitch for an individual knitted loop relationship, the line of stitching encompassing said rolled courses and comprising three threads including an over-edge looper thread.

3. A circular knitted stocking as set forth in claim 2, wherein the number of sewn stitches per inch is approximately 30 to 60% of the number of loops per inch of knitted fabric at the trimmed edges.

4. A circular knitted stocking including a foot portion knitted to shape and providing a transverse opening on the under side of the foot portion between a contoured toe pocket and adjacent instep portion, said toe pocket and instep portion having edges trimmed across the wales thereof and rolled courses adjacent the trimmed edges, and a chain over-edge line of stitching securing said trimmed edges without regard to an individual sewn stitch for an individual knitted loop relationship, the line of stitching encompassing said rolled courses and comprising three threads including an over-edge looper thread, the tension upon said over-edge looper thread causing the courses encompassed by the stitching to be rolled.

5. A circular knitted stocking including a foot portion knitted to shape and providing a transverse opening on the under side of the foot portion between a contoured toe pocket and adjacent instep portion, the contoured toe pocket and adjacent instep portion being knitted and reinforced rwith crimped fiber, said toe pocket and instep portion having edges trimmed across the wales thereof and rolled courses adjacent the trimmed edges, and a chain over-edge line of stitching securing said trimmed edges, including the crimped fiber, without regard to an individual sewn stitch for an individual knitted loop relationship, the line of stitching encompassing said rolled courses.

6. In a circular knitted, Womans stocking of nylon including a foot portion knitted to shape and providing a transverse opening on the under side of the foot portion between a contoured toe pocket and adjacent instep portion, said toe pocket and instep portion being reinforced with filaments to provide a heavier section than the stockings leg portion of sheer knitted fabric, an intermediate section substantially as sheer as the leg portion knitted to said heavier, reinforced section, and a non-raveling section adjacent the transverse opening knitted to the intermediate sheer section, said toe pocket and instep portion having edges trimmed across the wales thereof in said intermediate sheer section and sheer, rolled courses adjacent the trimmed edges, and a chain over-edge line of stitching securing said trimmed edges without regard to an individual sewn stitch for an individual loop relationship, the line of stitching encompassing said rolled courses.

7. A method of closing the transverse opening on the under side of the foot portion between the contoured toe 'pocket and adjacent instep portion of a circular knitted stocking having the foot portion knitted to shape, said method comprising plying and feeding the toe pocket and instep portion, substantially without tension, between the feed dog and presser foot of a chain over-edge trimming and sewing machine, trimming the toe pocket and instep portion across the wales thereof and, while the plied material is under the control of the presser foot and feed dog, rolling the courses adjacent the trimmed edges and over-edge chain stitching the trimmed edges without regard to an individual sewn stitch for an individual knitted loop relationship, the stitching encompassing the rolled courses.

8. A method as set forth in claim 7, wherein the number of stitches sewn per inch is approximately 30 to 60% of the number of loops per inch of knitted fabric at the trimmed edges.

9. A method of closing the transverse opening on the under side of the foot portion between the contoured toe pocket and adjacent instep portion of a circular knitted stocking having the foot portion knitted to shape, said method comprising plying and feeding the toe pocket and instep portion, substantially without tension, between the feed dog and presser foot of a chain over-edge trimming and sewing machine, trimming the toe pocket and instep portion across the wales thereof and, While the plied material is under the control of the presser foot and feed dog, over-edge chain stitching the trimmed edges without regard to an individual sewn stitch for an individual knitted loop relationship, said chain-over stitching comprising three threads, and, in sewing, applying sutficient tension to one of the threads to roll the courses adjacent the trimmed edges, the stitching encompassing the rolled courses.

10. A method of closing the transverse opening on the under side of the foot portion between the contoured toe pocket and adjacent instep portion of a circular knitted stocking having the foot portion knitted to shape, said method comprising plying and feeding the toe pocket and instep portion, substantially without tension, between the feed dog and presser foot of a chain over-edge trimming and sewing machine, trimming the toe pocket and instep portion across the wales thereof and, while 'the plied material is under the control of the presser foot and feed dog, over-edge chain stitching the trimmed edges "without regard to an individual sewn stitch for an individual knitted loop relationship, said chain over-edge stitching comprising three threads including an over-edge looper thread, and, in sewing, applying suflicient tension to said over-edge looper thread to roll the courses adjacent the trimmed edges, the stitching encompassing the rolled courses.

11. A method of closing the transverse opening on the under side of the foot portion between the contoured toe pocket and adjacent instep portion of a circular knitted stocking having the foot portion knitted to shape, the contoured toe pocket and adjacent instep portion being knitted and reinforced with crimped fiber, said method comprising plying and feeding the toe pocket and instep portion, substantially without tension, between the feed dog and presser foot of a chain over-edge trimming and sewing machine, trimming the toe pocket and instep across the crimped fiber wales thereof and, while the plied material is under the control of the presser foot and feed dog, rolling the crimped fiber courses adjacent the trimmed edges and over-edge chain stitching the trimmed edges without regard to an individual sewn stitch for an individual knitted loop relationship, the stitching encompassing said rolled courses.

12. A method of closing the transverse opening on the under side of the foot portion between the contoured toe pocket and adjacent instep portion of a circular knitted, womans stocking of nylon having the food portion knitted to shape, said toe pocket and instep portion 8 section and, while the plied material is under the control of the presser foot and feed dog, rolling the sheer courses adjacent the trimmed edges and over-edge chain stitching the trimmed edges without regard to an individual sewn stitch for an individual knitted loop relationship, the stitching encompassing the rolled courses.

13. A circular knitted stocking as set forth in claim 1, wherein not more than seven (7) courses inward of each of the trimmed edges are encompassed by the line of stitching.

14. A circular knitted stocking as set forth in claim 1, wherein approximately three (3) courses inward of each of the trimmed edges are encompassed by the line of stitching.

15. A circular knitted stocking as set forth in claim 4, wherein not more than seven (7) courses inward of each of the trimmed edges are encompassed by the line of stitching.

16. A circular knitted stocking as set forth in claim 4, wherein approximately three 3) courses inward of each of the trimmed edges are encompassed by the line of stitching.

17. A method as set forth in claim 7, wherein not more than seven (7) courses inward of each of the trimmed edges are encompassed by the line of stitching.

18. A method as set forth in claim 7, wherein approximately three (3) courses inward of each of the trimmed edges are encompassed by the line of stitching.

19. A method as set forth in claim 10, wherein not more than seven (7) courses inward of each of the trimmed edges are encompassed by the line of stitching. v

20. A method as set forth in claim 10, wherein approximately three (3) courses inward of each of the trimmed edges are encompassed by the line of stitching.

21. A seamless stocking comprising a shaped and sewn toe end of a tubular knitted material having two superposed webs, the ends of the webs forming a closed roll hem, and a seam binding the hem, said seam consisting of needle threads passing through the tubular knitted material and by shuttle threads being looped around the hem with sutficient tension to maintain the hem as a closed roll to secure the wales of the knitted material and wherein the hem extends in a horizontal plane on the sole of the stocking and set back from the extremity thereof.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 802,672 Wever et a1 Oct. 24, 1905 1,220,209 Ellis Mar. 27, 1917 1,810,098 Allen June 16, 1931 1,984,970 Goodman Dec. 18, 1934 2,157,373 Weis May 9, 1939 2,512,489 Dills June 20, 1950 2,617,114 Sanson Nov. 11, 1952 FOREIGN PATENTS 14,822 Australia Aug. 1, 1928 1,052,136 France Sept. 23, 1953 

1. A CIRCULAR KNITTED STOCKING INCLUDING A FOOT PORTION KNITTED TO SHAPE AND PROVIDING A TRANSVERS OPENING ON THE UNDER SIDE OF SAID PORTION BETWEEN A CONTOURED TOE POCKET AND ADJACENT INSTEP PORTION, SAID TOE POCKET AND INSTEP PORTION HAVING EDGES TRIMMED ACROSS THE WALES THEREOF AND ROLLED COURSES ADJACENT THE TRIMMED EDGES, AND A CHAIN OVER-EDGE LINE OF STITCHING SECURING SAID TRIMMED EDGES WITHOUT REGARD TO AN INDIVIDUAL SEWING STITCH FOR AN INVIDUAL KNITTED LOOP RELATIONSHIP, THE LINE OF STITCHING ENCOMPASSING SAID ROLLED COURSES. 